TORONTO '99 ON THE SCENE: A Barenaked Doc and a Raging Premiere

Saturday saw me getting into the swing of things, as it always takes 24-36hours to get one’s “onthescene/festival legs.” Since almost everything about my state ofmind involves food, I suspect that it’s the hot dogs that are helping meadjust to being back in festival mode after quite a long layoff. Also,spending some time organizing screening, interview and party schedules savesmany a fragile mind during the latter days of the insanity that is a majorworld film festival.

Saturday brought the world premiere reception for B’s filmicdirectorial debut, “Barenaked in America,” an inside look at a U.S. tour bythe Canadian band Barenaked Ladies and an up-close look at the band in general. At theparty, presented by Boss Hugo Boss, Priestley was straightforward telling meabout why he chose to make this particular film his first. “It was the firstidea that inspired me to commit two years of my life to.” But why a doc? “I’ma big fan of documentaries and the documentary style,” he said. In fact,Priestley is a long-time friend of the band, and at a press conference forthe film he and the band remarked that when they were together Priestleywould often comment that someone should be rolling film. Eventually he becametired of saying it, and picked up a camera himself. Vancouver, Canada-nativePriestley also told me that the goal from the beginning was to bring the filmto Toronto, and this would probably be the film’s only festival stop. SlossSpecial Projects is handling the sale of the movie.